tional injuries); cerebrovascular disease (included under cardiovascular disease); and the developmental disabilities given in Table 6-1 of this report, but not included in the global burden of disease classification.

Part I of the report discusses the challenges posed by brain disorders: the global burden they impose, the stigma and lost productivity associated with these conditions, the role of poverty and gender, the capacity of local health systems to care for these conditions, and the priorities for services, training, and research to lessen the burden of these disorders in the early years of the 21st century. Estimation of the global burden caused by the broad range of disorders is complicated by their not all being included in estimates of the global burden of disease, and for those that are included, their not having been classified, analyzed, and reported in a way that allows the individual disorders to be assembled simply and accurately. Rather they are drawn from the group of neuropsychiatric disorders, with the additions of self-inflicted illness, cerebrovascular disease or stroke, and additional estimations for developmental disabilities (not included in the Global Burden of Disease Study) based on prevalence data from developing countries.

Part II of the report focuses on six classes of disorders—developmental disabilities, epilepsy, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, unipolar depression, and stroke—in order to consider specific opportunities for cost-effective interventions and priorities for research. In selecting these categories of disorders, sponsors of the report considered the following criteria:

the magnitude and severity of the disorder, as measured by prevalence and disability;

inclusion of disorders that affect different age groups from infancy to senescence; and

the likelihood of identifying cost-effective interventions for a disorder.

The framework for studying each category of disorder includes an overview of the epidemiology, a review of knowledge supporting existing and potential interventions, and projections of the feasibility, cost, and expected impact of those interventions.

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This report uses the term developing countries to describe those countries with economies classified as middle-and low-income in the 1999/2000 World Development Report (World Bank, 1999). They have per capita incomes that average less than $9,361 (see Figure A-1). These are subdivided into low-income countries with average per capita incomes of $760 or less, lower middle-income countries with average per capita incomes of $761 to $3,030, and upper middle-income countries with average per capita incomes of $3,031 to $9,361. The different countries in these groupings are developing at their own rates and